Challenges and opportunities of facilitating access and use of open access resources to users by librarians in federal and state universities in Nigeria

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges and opportunities of librarians in federal and state universities in Nigeria in facilitating access to open access resources.Design/methodology/approachUsing a positivist research paradigm, descriptive survey research approach was employed in the study. Five research questions guided the study. The population of the study was 79 librarians. There was no sampling. A questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection, and the data were presented in figures and tables.FindingsThe major findings of the study were that librarians are aware of open access resources. They make the resources available/visible to users by linking them to the library website and promote the use of Google and Google Scholar searches. The librarians were of the view that free online resources are important for the research process. The major challenges they face in giving users access to these resources are lack of metrics and evidence to demonstrate the value of free content.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only assessed e-resources' librarians in the sampled universities at the time of this study. It may be necessary to assess the perception of users towards open access resources.Practical implicationsAdopting and implementing these opportunities to enhance users' access and use of the resources will improve service delivery without doubt. Though this study is not exhaustive, it has provided insight into the inherent opportunities of using open access resources.Originality/valueFor the library management and librarians, the creation of awareness on available open access resources and facilitating access to users through different strategies will not only increase access but also improve teaching, learning and research. It will also increase users' awareness on accessing other sources apart from through subscription.

Affording Access: Pathways to Reducing Textbook Costs

After piloting an Open Educational Resources (OER) grant program, librarians from the University of Scranton’s Weinberg Memorial Library OER Committee conducted a survey of librarians about the inclusion of library resources in OER initiatives. The survey examined if institutions defined library resources as OER, why libraries chose not to include library resources, and, if included, the types of library-licensed or purchased content. The survey found that most (18 of 27) respondents did not include OER and library resources together and, of the institutions that did, a majority (5 of 9) used licensed library resources in addition to open educational and open access resources. The conclusion of this article looks at the pilot grant program and the OER Committee’s decision to realign and rebrand the grant in light of the survey results.

Reading Like A Victorian

Reading Like a Victorian (RLV) allows users to experience the works of authors such as Dickens, Thackeray, and Eliot as they were first published. The website restores a number of novels to their original serial formatting and places them within a timeline of contemporary works accessible to the user. Currently, RLV features some 130 works, of which about a third are serialized fiction. Its content is largely sourced from other open access resources, and the site does not offer the user background information or notes on the works it features. The site is easily navigable, but the search function needs improvement.

PUBLICATION OF RESEARCH DATA MANAGEMENT IN OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL ANALYSIS BASED ON SCOPUS DATA

The study aims to determine: (1) the number of open access resources for research data management publications indexed by Scopus, including the year of publication, source of publication, authors, institutions, countries, types of documents and funding agencies; (2) mapping research data management based on keywords. The results of the study showed that the number of open access resources for research data management publications has started since 1981 and the number has continued to increase starting in 2014 and the highest number occurred in 2019, namely 49 publications. The most publicized journals that open access to research data management was the Data Science Journal, which was 11 publications. The most productive author of conducting research data management publications was Cox, A.M. and Pinfield, S. The largest institutions contributing to the publication of open access research data management were the University of Toronto and New York University. The countries that contributed the most were the United States with 50 publications, then China with 38 publications. The most open access research data management in the form of articles as many as 107 and 37 conference paper publications. The institutions that provided the most funding sponsors were the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the National Science Foundation. The results of keyword mapping with VOSViewer showed that big data, research data management, information management, data management, medical research topics, software, information processing, and metadata were the most researched topics.